


Spencer's First Camping Trip

by mggislife2789



Category: Criminal Minds, Spencer Reid - Fandom
Genre: Camping, F/M, Hiking, S'mores
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-17
Updated: 2017-02-17
Packaged: 2018-09-25 05:48:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9805286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mggislife2789/pseuds/mggislife2789
Summary: Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters or their original stories. This is only for fun. It's where my brain goes after the credits roll. No copyright intended. Better safe than sorry. ;)





	

It had taken weeks of convincing before Spencer finally agreed to go camping for a night or two; you hadn’t been in forever. As a child, you formed your best memories with your family at Shenandoah National Park. When you first mentioned it to Spencer, he grimaced; he’d never been before and he was not the outdoorsy type - he was more the sit-at-home-on-a-Saturday-night-and-watch-reruns-of-Doctor-Who type. But he knew how much you loved it as a child, so he finally agreed, his smile wide when you started to jump and down like an ecstatic kid.

“Yay!” you screamed, running around the apartment like an idiot. “I can’t wait to take you all the places I used to go as a kid! We’ll go to waterfall, we’ll make s’mores, we’ll tell campfire stories and then we can fall asleep under the stars!” With a contended sigh, you crawled into his lap.

“Well, falling asleep under the stars sounds nice. And I couldn’t imagine camping with anyone else,” he said, brushing his lips up against yours. “This weekend?”

Enthusiastically, you nodded your head and hopped off of his lap, ready to plan your entire weekend. “Get ready!” you laughed. “I’m going to wear you out this weekend.”

——

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Friday came, and Hotch allowed Spencer to take off early so the two of you could drive the nearly 100 miles to Shenandoah. On the ride there, you allowed him to sleep. You did have a lot planned and he wasn’t used to insane amounts of physical activity, so he was going to be tired.

Nearly three hours later, you finally arrived, poking him excitedly as you ran out of the car. “Here we are!” you said, pulling him, still half asleep, stumbling out of the vehicle. It was just as you remembered.

“It really is beautiful,” he yawned, wiping the sleep from his eyes. The lush green leaves made a canopy above you - only the tips of the leaves were starting to change color. It would be autumn soon. “What number is our campground?”

“147,” you replied, pointing toward the area that was equipped with a fire ring and a picnic table. After assembling the tent, which took about an hour because Spencer kept accidentally kicking one of the legs out, you unpacked the sandwiches Spencer had made and the ingredients for s’mores that you’d brought. “I think,” you said, taking a messy bite of the turkey sandwich, “I might just take a few bites of this and then load up on chocolate, graham crackers and marshmallows.” 

While Spencer quickly ate the rest of his sandwich, also much more interested in s’mores than actual food, you put together the makings of a fire - wood, newspaper, some tinder, and a bit of the char cloth you’d brought. Sure it was easier to just light the tinder with a match or a lighter, but it made you feel like a kid again to use flint and steel like your father used to use. “You sure you just don’t want a lighter,” Spencer laughed, his mouth still stuffed with sandwich.

“No,” you replied, determined to light this damn fire like your father showed you. Attempt after attempt cam with failure, until finally a spark landed on the char cloth. With a little of your nurturing, the small spark turned into an enormous flame - perfect for marshmallow roasting. “Marshmallows,” you said, placing the bag between you, “sticks, chocolate, graham crackers. And go!” 

Over the next hour, you put your head in Spencer’s lap as you both roasted marshmallow after marshmallow, making countless s’mores. At the end of the hour, both of your fingers and lips were covered in chocolate. “Chocolate kisses,” he said, leaning down to pepper your face with sweet affection. “You wanna tell scary stories now?”

You were having such a nice time and were such a chicken shit with scary stuff that you asked him to wait until tomorrow night. He was getting tired anyway, so you laid out underneath the stars until you were ready to pass out. Crawling into the tent required way too much energy after such a long day, so once inside, you both fell asleep immediately, his arm wrapped around your waist.

——

The sound of other campers in the area woke you up around 9 o’clock the next morning. “Hey beautiful,” he said sleepily, laughing as you lifted your head and let it fall back into the pillow. Your hair was a mess - he was a flatterer, your boyfriend. “What are we doing today?”

“I wanna take you up by Overall Run Falls,” you said, turning around to take his lips in a sleepy morning kiss. “Bring a book with you. I’m pretty sure once we’re up there, you’re going to want to stay for a while.” 

After dressing with your eyes closed, still half asleep and tripping over each other, you tumbled out of the tent and started the hike toward the falls. “How much farther is it?” Spencer asked, huffing and puffing behind you. This was the part of the trip you knew you’d have to push him through - he was not one for walking. You’d gone about two miles…and had another two to go. 

“Only two more miles,” you said, trying your best to downplay the length of the trail. 

Spencer stopped in his tracks behind you and started laughing. “You mean to tell me that we’ve gone two miles, still have another two miles to go, and then have to make the trek all the way back? So this is an 8 mile round trip?”

“Yes,” you said with a toothy grin. “I promise you’ll love it once we’re up there and we can stay there for a few hours before we come back.”

“It’s a good thing I love you,” he said, catching his breath and taking your hand to trek the other two miles. Finally, you were there. Took about an hour and a half to walk the 4.2 miles, but it was worth it. “Okay, this was worth it.” He looked toward the falls in awe. “People don’t realize that they don’t have to leave the country to see something beautiful.”

Tired after the long walk, you walked toward a tree with Spencer behind you and sat down against it, pulling out your book. “You do wanna stay for a while right?” you asked.

“Definitely,” he breathed as he sat down next to you. “I’m gonna save the book for later though. This is too nice not to take in.”

Agreed. You’d been the same way when your parents first brought you here as a child. “So, is it safe to say you had a successful first camping trip?”

Spencer laughed as he brought your head into his shoulder. “As long as I make it the other four miles back to the campground, I’d say yes.”


End file.
